Guilty
by ImmortalPhantom22
Summary: Danny Phantom / Teen Titan crossover - All of the evidence points to Danny, and he even confessed to the crime. But Robin is convinced that Danny is innocent. So why would Danny confess to murder if he didn't do it?
1. Confession

Guilty

Danny Phantom / Teen Titans

_Rated T for violence and some swearing. _

_I do not own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. _

Summary: All of the evidence points to Danny, and he even confessed to the crime. But Robin is convinced that Danny is innocent. So why would Danny confess to murder if he didn't do it?

Chapter 1: Confession

3:36 AM

The sound of papers flipping was the only noise to be heard in the empty, gray room. The light on the ceiling was dull to say the least. Sitting cross legged against the wall was a teenage boy with black hair, a mask to cover his eyes and a red and green outfit. His eyes were narrowed as he scanned through the file opened up in his hand. With a free hand, the boy ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a sigh of frustration.

The door located on the other side of the room opened with a loud creak. "Any luck yet, Robin?" A girl about his age walked in, she wore a long purple cloak that covered her entire body, her equally purple hair was cropped just below her ears.

The boy known as Robin shook his head, "I can't figure this guy out at all." He closed the folder and placed it on the ground beside him. "What time is it? Shouldn't you be at the tower, Raven?"

"I could say the same to you." Raven spoke with an even, monotone voice, "you've been here all night."

"Has he talked at all yet?"

"No. He hasn't said anything."

Robin snarled and stood up. His legs felt weak, having had them crossed for several hours straight. He picked up the folder and walked out of the room with Raven trailing behind him. "It's been eight hours! Why hasn't anyone gotten him to say anything! We're wasting time!"

"They've tried, Robin." Raven calmly replied.

The two of them walked down the short hallway from the room, passing by several similar doors as they went. Even though Robin was striding very quickly down the hallway, Raven was able to keep up with him.

"Well, they haven't tried hard enough!"

"Robin, you need to calm down," Raven put her hand on Robin's shoulder and stopped walking, forcing Robin to stop as well. "Getting frustrated won't help the situation."

"If this guy is really responsible for all of this, then we need to get him to talk to us! We need to find those missing people! They could be _dead_!" Robin shook her hand off of his shoulder and walked a few more feet, reaching his destination. He opened the door and walked in.

This room was a bit larger than the last one Robin was in, and this one had a table with a chair. Sitting in the chair was another teenage boy not much younger than him, the boy's hands were resting on the table in front of him, large cuffs wrapped around his wrists. The hand-cuffs he wore were not the typical hand-cuffs, they were much larger and thicker. As well as keeping the boy's hands bound, they also worked as a device to neutralize his powers.

The cuffed teen looked up at Robin for a brief moment before lowering his gaze to the table once more.

Robin walked to the table and put his hands down on it, leaning forward a bit. "I read your records, you have a very interesting report from the Amity Park Police Department. Over there you're labeled Public Enemy Number 1. So how is it that you can be an enemy and still try to play hero?"

The boy before him had a very strange appearance, he wore a black and white suit and had white hair with green eyes.

"How can you think to _call _yourself a hero!" Robin grit his teeth. He himself was considered a hero by the city and it disgusted him to think a hero could do something so horrible. "You're sick!"

The white haired teen looked up with narrowed eyes.

Robin threw the file down onto the table and opened it. He spread out the pictures in front of the teen. Each one was a close up face of a person. There were four pictures altogether. "All four of these people are missing. And you're going to tell me where they are." He pulled out a few more pictures, "and you're going to _also _tell me why you killed these people!"

"Figure it out." The white haired teen taunted.

Robin clenched his fist and reached across the table, grabbing the boy by the edge of his suit just below his neck and pulled him up out of his seat, bringing him closer to his face, "This isn't a game! Three people are dead! Four are missing!"

"I'm aware of that fact." He coldly replied.

"Why did you do it?"

There was a moment of silence before the white haired teen replied "we all do bad stuff once in a while." He looked directly at Robin with his glowing green eyes, "If I remember correctly, you have a history of doing many horrible things."

"I would _never_ kill someone!" Robin barked, tightening his grip on the boy's suit. "I protect people! I save lives, I don't take them! You on the other hand have failed both as a hero _and _a human being! You'll pay for what you did!"

The teen boy bit his lip before replying, "you don't know _anything_ about me!" He pulled back from Robin's grip and kicked the table between them. The table hit Robin's upper legs and he stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. Then, the white haired teen jumped over the table, kicking Robin in the stomach.

Robin wasn't able to avoid the attack, his back hit the wall. Robin quickly grabbed his bo-staff and extended it to full length.

The cuffed boy continued his advance despite the fact that his enemy now had a weapon. It was stupid of him to try. The surprise attack may have worked, but now that Robin was fully prepared for him, the boy was at a disadvantage.

The bo-staff was swung low, striking the teen in the leg and a split second later he was hit on the side of the head with the staff. Danny went with the blow, letting out a gasped cry of pain before crashing into the floor. His eyes were no longer focused, a splitting headache pounded through his skull.

Danny lay on his back and Robin placed his foot on Danny's chest, pressing him to the floor with enough force to hurt the teen but not break his ribs. Danny blinked several times, his eyes still trying to adjust.

"Let me ask you one thing. Did you really kill those people?"

Danny breathed in and out heavily then opened his mouth to speak, "yes."

==0==0==0==

7:00 pm (approximately 8 hours previous)

"Beast Boy, are you not feeling well?" An alien girl with orange skin, red hair and green eyes leaned down to talk to the young boy lying on the grass.

The small, green skinned boy with pointed ears had his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth, his small fangs could be seen from his open mouth. "I can't take the smell…" he groaned. No matter what shape he took, his sense of smell was far times greater than an average human's sense of smell. "I can't go any further."

Several yards ahead of them, a group of police and detectives of all sorts were observing the crime scene.

The oldest of the group as well as the tallest walked up to Beast Boy "you won't want to go there anyway, man." Cyborg was just as his name implied, he was mostly made of metal, but half of his original face could be seen.

"How bad is it" Beast Boy looked toward Cyborg.

"Pretty bad."

The alien girl known as Starfire curiously looked up at Cyborg, "how bad is 'pretty bad'."

"I mean, as in, I don't even want to go over there. It almost looks like a creature of some sort ripped them apart. But, from what I've heard over there, it looks like this was a person who did it."

"Oh, but who could do such an awful thing!" Starfire sadly lowered her head.

"I dunno, Star." Cyborg replied.

From the scene of the crime, Robin marched over to the three of them, looking as serious as ever. "Beast Boy, we could use your help."

The green boy recoiled as their leader got closer. The stench of the corpses could be smelled on Robin since he had been close to them. "I dunno if I can get any closer, dude!" He whined, "the smell will make my pass out!"

"Hold your breath then." Robin barked, "this is serious Beast Boy, we need to do all we can. We found a young girl and we think she might have seen the person who did this, but she's too scared to speak and I thought you might be able to talk to her."

"Why me?" Beast Boy inquired.

"Young girls like animals, right?"

"I think she might be scared if an animal started talking to her." Cyborg pointed out. "Why not have Star go talk to her."

Starfire's eyes lit up, "I will gladly accept your request!"

Sitting in the back seat of an ambulance, a young girl no older than eight years had a blanket wrapped around her body, her eyes were wide and glossy with fear. Her brown hair reached just below her shoulders and the young girl wore a simple pair of jeans and a purple shirt.

Starfire was brought up to the ambulance by Robin, who then stopped a few feet away to give the two girls some space.

"Hello," the alien greeted with a smile, "my name is Starfire. May I sit here, please?"

The girl shakily nodded her head and Starfire sat.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"A-Alyssa." The girl replied.

"That's a wonderful name." Starfire warmly said, "I'm from the planet Tamaran. Where is your home?"

Alyssa pointed, "it's over that way…"

"Why is it that you have come out here at this late hour?" Starfire inquired.

"I-I was looking for my kitty, Katie. And then I ended up here…" Alyssa wrapped the blanket tighter around her body, "will the scary person come back here?"

"Of course not. My friends and I shall protect you from danger." Starfire placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, "do you think you could describe the scary person for me? Do not be afraid. My friend wishes to know of their appearance."

Alyssa bit her lip and trembled, but opened her mouth to speak softly, "Th-they were wearing a black outfit I think. It's dark though…so it was hard to see. They had glowy hands. And…they had white hair."

At this information, Robin narrowed his eyes. There weren't many people wandering around that looked like that. Immediately, in his mind, he thought of all the criminal files he had gone through in the past, but none of them fit that description.

"They were flying too." The young girl added.

"That's odd." A girl had come up to stand next to Robin and had happened to hear the conversation. The girl wore a long cloak that covered her entire body, her hood was pulled back to show her face which revealed short purple hair and large eyes that were also purple. "I do know of someone who fits that description."

Robin raised an eyebrow at his teammate Raven.

Robin and Raven walked over to Cyborg's car which had a computer built into it. Robin quickly looked up the name that Raven told him, "Danny Phantom." His eyes widened a bit at the picture he saw of Amity Park's superhero. "This is our guy?"

==0==0==0==

The rain poured down on the young ghost teen, he sat on a bench in this foreign city and leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees and his forehead placed in his palms. "I'm so sorry." He whimpered to himself, still in shock and feeling nauseas.

"Hey!" A voice barked at him.

Danny brought his head up and looked at the five people standing about twenty feet away. Each of them was just as soaked as Danny was.

"You're Danny Phantom right?"

He didn't answer, he just lowered his head once more.

The leader, Robin, marched forward until he was a mere foot away from Danny, "I asked you a question! Are you Danny Phantom!" When there was no answer again, Robin continued, "I'm going to ask you to stand up and come with us. We have a few questions for you." Robin waited for a moment, "did you hear me?"

Danny grit his teeth with fury before standing up. He raised his head, glaring menacingly at Robin. Danny didn't understand why he was so angry at this person, maybe it wasn't _this_ person, but in general, he was furious.

Robin narrowed his eyes and reached for his bo-staff.

At this action, Danny instinctively lunged forward before Robin could grab his weapon. He raised his right arm, charging it with bright green ectoenergy and punched at his opponent. Danny's eyes began to shine an even brighter green.

Robin back flipped away from Danny, avoiding the oncoming punch and then quickly brought out his bo-staff. "Titans, go!" He barked.

Each teammate jumped into action.

Danny looked left and right. The group of teens had formed a large circle around him and the leader of their group. He could see a strange orange girl with her eyes and hands glowing green much like his own. A girl wearing a purple cloak had a black mass of energy surrounding her. The small green boy had morphed into a green rhino. Lastly, the oldest of the group, the man made of mostly metal had his hands change into two giant blasting guns which hummed with energy, ready to fire.

"You definitely fit the description." Robin growled, "and from the way your behaving I think it's safe to say that you're the guy we're after."

Danny snarled and rocketed forward at the leader once more. Robin was ready for his attack. Just as Danny was about to crash into him, Robin side stepped out of the way so that Danny began to go past him. However, Robin reared his bo-staff back and swung it at the ghost boy.

The white haired teen felt the bo-staff slam into his stomach and it threw him backward several feet where he then crashed to the ground, skidding to a stop. Heaving in and out, Danny forced himself back onto his feet.

Robin looked down at his bo-staff and his eyes widened at the blood smear. "You have blood on you." He said to Danny, "I didn't notice it at first since your outfit is mostly black." At closer inspection, he could see that some of the white parts of Danny's outfit were stained red.

The rain continued to pour down upon them. If there hadn't been any rain, Robin would have been able to see the tears rolling down Danny's face.

The ghost boy made a quick jump into the air to gain the higher ground and began to repeatedly throw beams down at them.

A punch was driven into Danny's back, sending him plummeting down. His body collided with the cement, sending painful waves through his entire being. Starfire stayed in the air in case Danny tried to go above the ground once more.

"Stay down or we'll keep attacking!" Robin ordered.

Ignoring his words completely, Danny pushed himself up and wiped away the blood that dropped from his mouth. A blue beam was shot from Cyborg's guns. The teen countered the attack with one of his own beams.

_I won't be caught here…I can't! _Danny stood firmly, facing the group and he inhaled deeply.

Beast Boy's animal instincts screamed into him, "guys! Cover your ears!" He morphed into his original form and wrapped his hands around his pointed ears.

The others weren't quick enough to heed his warning. Danny released the ghostly wail built up in his throat. The green sonic waves crashed into them, literally pushing them backward.

Starfire fell from the air, her hands trying to block her ears from the painful wail.

"R-Raven!" Robin gasped, his head feeling like it would break into two, "cover him!"

Raven nodded, grinding her teeth together from the pain.

A black hand made of magic came up from the ground behind Danny and wrapped around him, closing over his mouth to stop the wail. Two more black hands came up, one grabbed onto his feet and the other grabbed his upper body to keep his arms secured.

A moment later, Danny released a muffled scream of agony as energy from the hands was poured into his system, blocking off his powers almost entirely. The hands vanished from sight and Danny fell to the ground, clawing viciously at his chest and stomach. The foreign energy that had taken a hold of his body was painful, it made him feel like he was drowning and choking.

Danny could only gasp helplessly for breath as he fell unconscious.

==0==o==0==

-Present-

Danny leaned against the wall while Robin stood across the room with his arms folded on his chest. After their little fight a minute ago, Robin felt it was best to stay a distance from the kid. "You weren't giving your all last night, were you?"

At this, Danny looked up at Robin with confusion.

"Last night, when you fought us, you seemed too desperate and your attacks were sloppy. Why is that?"

"You ask too many questions." Danny muttered.

"Because I want answers."

"Give up. I won't talk." Danny replied.

The door leading to the room opened and Raven stepped inside. Danny immediately scurried across the wall to get further away from Raven.

"Why are you so scared of Raven?" Robin asked.

"Keep her away!" Danny barked.

Raven walked over to Robin, "the results of the blood came back from the lab. They were able to find the blood of the victims _and _another persons blood. We don't know who it is though."

Robin brought his hand up and ran it through his hair with frustration.

Raven glanced over at Danny then turned to Robin once more, "go take a break for a bit, I'll talk to him." She whispered quietly enough that Danny couldn't hear her.

Robin raised an eyebrow at her suggestion, "really? That doesn't seem like you."

"Whether it's like me or not, we need to get to the bottom of this investigation."

The teen leader nodded and left Raven there with Danny, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Raven took a few more steps toward Danny but was still quite far away and gently lowered herself down to sit with her legs crossed. She closed her eyes and sat completely still.

After at least ten minutes of absolute silence, Danny spoke up, "why are you in here? Aren't you going to overload me with questions like that other guy?"

Raven opened one eye to look at him but quickly closed it again, "you seem to be talking more now." She said calmly. "I wanted to talk to you alone for a reason," she continued, her eyes still closed as though she were asleep "when I use my powers on something or someone, I get a small feel for what that person is thinking or feeling."

At this, Danny's eyes widened with horror but he said nothing.

"When I used my powers on you, just briefly I could tell that you were afraid, or rather, terrified of something." Raven opened her eyes fully to look at the white haired teen, "I could feel it inside of you, you have a strong will to live and fight for others. I know someone who is exactly like you in that sense. Danny Phantom, protector and hero of Amity Park, I only have one question…did you kill those people."

Danny looked into her purple eyes with a fierce glare, "…Yes."

Raven sighed and stood up, swiftly walking out of the room without another word. She closed the door behind her and leaned her back against it, thinking about the situation.

After only a few moments, something caught her attention. Raven stood up straight and faced the door. Inside of the room she could hear quiet choking sobs. _Why?_ She thought to herself,_ You couldn't have done this, there's no way…so why do you keep saying yes? Why do you keep telling us that you killed all of those people?_ Raven turned away from the door and left.

**A/N: So, how'd you like the first chapter? This is my first time writing something _other_ than Danny Phantom, I hope I didn't butcher the TT characters too much. Criticism is welcomed! Please tell me what I can do to improve!**


	2. Friends

Guilty

Chapter 2: Friends

Raven made her way toward the front doors of the jail-house where Danny Phantom was currently being held. She figured that Robin had already gone over to the Tower, where he was mostly likely doing more research on their suspect. Just as she was ready to leave, she spotted two teens standing at the front desk, talking to the police officer there. Or rather, arguing with him.

"Please, just let me have _one _minute with him! I promise I won't take longer than that!" The girl begged the officer.

Raven changed direction and walked toward the two teenagers. She noticed that the one talking had similar taste in colours as herself. This girl was a bit shorter than Raven, she had cropped black hair just below her jaw, a black tank top to match her black skirt with green lines. Along with that she wore purple leggings and combat boots.

"Ma'am, please calm down. I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that." The lady at the desk replied, slowly losing her patience.

Standing behind the girl was an African American boy the same age, mid teens, he wore a pair of shorts and a long sleeved shirt, and on his head was a red hat. The boy lightly tugged on the girl's shirt, "Sam, let's go, it's no use."

The girl, Sam, turned and glared at her friend, "People get to visit friends in prison all the time! So why the hell won't they let us talk to Danny!"

Raven's eyebrow perked up, she stopped just a few feet away from the visitors. "Are you referring to Danny Phantom?"

Sam's eyes widened a bit, "yeah!" she quickly replied.

Raven looked at both of them for a moment, "follow me." She looked at the lady sitting at the desk and gave a short nod.

"Okay." Sam quickly followed behind Raven, "come on, Tucker."

Tucker gave an uneasy look but obeyed.

Halfway down the nearby hallway, Raven began to speak, "how do you two know Danny Phantom? And how did you know to come here?

Sam looked at Tucker, trying to think of a good reply. "Well…um…we know him because he lives in our town obviously! He's the hero of Amity Park."

Raven quickly picked up that she was lying. "There are a few reasons why I don't believe you. First is that not many people would go to a different city just to talk to the hero of their city who is in _jail_. Second, earlier you referred to Danny as a 'friend', not just your city hero. And third, Danny Phantom's arrest has not been released to the public yet, that is confidential information." Raven stopped walking and turned around to look at Sam and Tucker, "so, are you going to tell me the truth now?"

Tucker shifted from his left foot to his right uneasily. "Y-yeah, he's our best friend. He has been for a really long time…before he became a hero."

Sam narrowed her eyes at Raven, not liking how easily she caught on to their story. Sam gave a short exhale of frustration and then continued where Tucker left off, "We haven't heard from him for several days so we got worried. Nothing in the news mentioned him, which was really odd since he's usually making a scene _somewhere_. So…we hacked into the state police files and we found out where he was being kept."

Raven was impressed to say the least, although her face didn't show it. It was hard to imagine these teens being able to hack into secret files without being caught.

Sam bit her lip with worry, "so, what's happened to him? Why is Danny here?"

They had been honest with her, so Raven thought it was only fair to be honest with them as well, "we're not quite sure yet. But Danny Phantom is the prime suspect in a local murder investigation."

Sam took a sudden step back with absolute shock, "there's _no_ way! You have the wrong guy! Danny would never kill anyone! I know you don't know him very well, but you have to believe me when I say that Danny couldn't ever do such a thing!"

Raven exhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb. "I understand, and I agree with you that he wouldn't do this."

Sam's eyes lit up from her words.

"However," Raven continued, lowering her hand to her side calmly, "the only reason he's still a suspect at this moment…is because _he_ is the one that confessed to the murder, multiple times."

Both Sam and Tucker's mouths dropped open. "You can't be serious." Tucker mumbled.

"I don't joke about this sort of thing." Raven replied. "Right now, there are three people who have been murdered and four people are missing that we know of, we have suspicions that there could be a fourth person murdered."

"No, no, no!" Sam waved her hands around as she spoke, "that's impossible!" Her lip trembled, "H-he wouldn't do that!"

Tucker wrapped an arm around Sam in comfort. "Can we talk to him for a bit?" Tucker asked calmly.

==0==0==0==

Danny raised his head when the door to the room opened. It had been at least fifteen minutes since Raven left him there, and he assumed it was either her or Robin. His eyes widened to full circles when he saw who walked in. "S-Sam! Tucker!" His gaped speechless. "What are you doing here!" He stood up straight but didn't walk over to them.

Sam closed the door so that it was just those three alone in the room, or at least, it seemed like it was just those three. Raven had informed them that they weren't allowed to be alone in a room with a suspected murderer. They agreed to let her stay in the room with them, and she would cloak herself with her magic to remain unseen by Danny.

Raven was surprised by how lively Danny looked the moment he saw his friends, even his tone changed to a lighter and happier one.

Sam quickly darted across the room and jumped into Danny, wrapping her arms tightly around him with her face buried into his shoulder. "What the hell is going on, Danny!" She cried, "why did you tell them that you _killed_ someone!"

Tucker walked up to stand next to Danny, he also wanted to ask the same thing.

Danny closed his eyes tightly, pulling Sam tighter into their hug for a moment, then he pulled away from her, holding her shoulders with his hands. "You shouldn't have come here." He said to his friends, dropping his hands down to his sides and looking away.

"What are you talking about, dude?" Tucker asked, "We were worried about you! Of course we would come!"

Danny viciously shook his head, "well you shouldn't have!" He barked, still not looking at them, "this isn't your problem."

Sam bit her lip, her eyes watering. Tucker grit his teeth, "like hell it isn't our problem! You're our best friend!"

"I don't need you guys getting involved! By coming here, my secret is at risk of being let out, which would then get my family involved!" Danny's voice rose to a shout, "I don't want to have to worry about your safety when I'm not able to protect you guys!"

Sam took a step forward, only a few inches from Danny's face, "if you want to be able to protect us, then get out of here!" She barked, "Tell them the truth! Tell them that you didn't kill anyone!"

"But what if that _isn't_ the truth!"

The room dropped to a dead silence. Danny looked down at his hands. Each wrist had a band on it, keeping him from being able to use his ghost powers fully.

"You don't mean that…" Sam quietly whispered.

Danny backed up against the wall and slid down to a sit.

"Dude," Tucker put a hand on Danny's shoulder, "tell us what happened. We'll help you in any way we can."

"You can't help." Danny whispered.

"Don't say that, Danny!" Sam barked, "We're your friends! Why won't you talk to us! Did someone threaten to kill us? Are you doing this to protect us! We've been in danger before Danny, and we've always managed."

"It's not like that, you guys aren't be threatened. Just this one time, please, don't get involved anymore! Go back to Amity Park."

Sam shook her head, "I won't accept that, Danny!" Her hands curled into fists.

Danny jumped to a stand. A white ring appeared around his waist, splitting into two and traveling in opposite directions. In a flash of white light, his black and white suit suddenly changed into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. His white hair and green eyes switched to black hair and blue eyes.

Raven's eyes widened a bit. _He has a human side that he changes into?_

"What _will_ you accept!" Danny cried, "I killed those people! I confess to it! Why can't you leave it at that!"

Tucker took a step back, feeling the pissed-off-vibes radiate from Sam's body. Rather than a smack across the face, Sam reeled her arm back and punched Danny in the jaw with her fist. Danny dropped to the ground with a loud crash from the force of the blow. He squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip while he lay there. "You want to know why I won't leave it at that!" Sam yelled.

Danny touched his jaw tenderly with his hand, and with the other hand he pushed himself to his knees. A small splash caught his attention. He looked up to see tears flowing from Sam's purple eyes. His heart wrenched in two at the sight.

Sam continued, "do you remember a few months ago, when we fought your ten-year-older self! Do you remember what you promised us! Let me refresh your memory! You looked at me, Tucker and your whole family and said 'I won't turn into that, ever. I promise.' You made a promise to us that you wouldn't do something like that! That part of you that would lie, cheat, steal and kill…are you going against your promise! Huh, Danny!"

Danny stood up once more only to be punched by Sam again in the same spot. This time, Danny managed to remain standing, but did stumble back a step. "I've made many promises in the past…I have never been able to keep all of them…"

Tucker quickly grabbed Sam's hand before she could strike Danny again. "Sam, stop it." He muttered. "Is this your answer, Dude? You're going to push us away and be blamed for murder?"

Danny shortly replied, "yeah."

Sam shakily breathed and glared at him with shiny eyes. She turned sharply and marched away from Danny, yanking the door open and leaving the room. Tucker looked at his best friend with hurt eyes, "This isn't like you, man. I don't know what's going on…but getting rid of us won't help your problems…" Tucker then turned and followed Sam, closing the door behind him to leave Danny alone.

Raven remained invisible and stayed in the room. For several moments, she watched as Danny stood there blankly. Then, she saw streaming tears run down his cheeks. He turned to face the wall and slammed his fists against it. The thick wall wasn't damaged the slightest bit. His hand dropped and he punched it again even harder. The pounding from his fist echoed in the room sharply. Again and again he drove his knuckles into the wall.

Danny released a howl of fury and pain, continuing to punch the nearly indestructible wall. The skin on his knuckles split and blood began to drip from his hands and stain the wall with splattered crimson liquid.

After several minutes of taking his anger out on the wall, Danny dropped to his knees, leaning against the blood-stained wall and began to cry heavily.

Raven became visible, but was several feet away from Danny therefore she wasn't noticed at all. She wished she could comfort him somehow.

With a flash of light, Danny switched back to his Phantom self with white hair and black outfit.

The bands on his wrists had a small green light that quickly changed to red. Danny suddenly arched his back and released a quick scream of agony, shaking viciously in place. His eyes rolled back and he fell to his side ungracefully, becoming completely silent.

Raven darted forward and dropped to one knee beside him, "hey, you okay?" She pressed two fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse.

"He's just unconscious."

Raven looked over to who had walked in the room, "Robin? How did you-"

"I've been keeping an eye on this room since the beginning. If he had known there was a camera in here though, he definitely wouldn't have said anything to those two."

"Sorry for letting them in," Raven quickly apologized, "I thought that he would tell his friends the truth and we could get some information."

Robin dropped to his knees beside Raven, "we actually got plenty of info." He stared at Danny with narrow eyes, "I never would have guessed that this guy had a separate half that he could switch into besides his ghost self." Robin lifted up Danny's hand to observe the wrist band, "this thing keeps him from using his ghost powers. I'm guessing that when he changed from human to ghost, this device picked up the sudden use of ghost powers and reacted to it, which made him pass out."

Raven nodded. "This guy is just full of mysteries."

"For the actual case, we didn't figure out much." Robin sighed, "it's hard to believe he wouldn't even say anything to his friends."

"Maybe he did realize we were watching and wanted to stay quiet."

"Whatever the reason," Robin replied, "we need to talk to those guys again and see what we can find out."

==0==0==0==

Eyes still running with tears, Sam sat at the table with Tucker inside of a room similar to what Danny was being kept in. Both of them were offered drinks, and both denied the offer.

Robin sat across from them. For several moments it was silent and he spent that time observing both of them with his sharp eyes.

"You're making a mistake." Sam quietly broke the silence, "Danny wouldn't do something like this. Under any circumstance."

Robin raised an eyebrow; "you're still protecting him even after what he did a few hours ago?"

Sam leaned forward with a glare, "he's being stubborn. Everything he does is to help others. He always puts others before himself and he's the one that suffers the most! If he's not willing to share it with us…I can only imagine what could have happened…"

Robin looked over at Tucker, who nodded in agreement.

"How long has he had ghost powers?"

Both Sam and Tucker froze, eyes widening.

"I have no intention of giving away his identity, I understand all too well the confidentiality of others private lives. I need to know so I can try and help," Robin calmly assured them.

Sam nodded toward Tucker for him to speak. He paused before answering, "It happened about a year ago, it was just an accident. We were both there." Tucker pulled out his PDA and opened a file with several pictures, sliding it across the table toward Robin.

Robin pulled the PDA close and looked at the pictures shown. One of Danny holding a white and black suit standing next to a portal inside a wall, another of him wearing the suit, it continued with showing pictures of Danny in his Phantom form, and even a few random pictures of them just hanging out being normal teenagers. Robin gave the PDA back to Tucker.

"If you know anything else that could help us in this investigation, please tell me."

"Why do you think Danny did this?" Sam ignored his request completely.

Robin crossed his arms over his chest, "there's plenty of evidence against him. There's an eyewitness that said a teen with white hair and a black suit killed the victims. There aren't many of those wandering around. We found some white hair at the crime scene. Our forensics team ran some tests and they determined that the DNA from that white hair matches Phantom's DNA. Also, we found some of the victims' blood on Phantom's outfit."

Sam stood up, her chair screeching back behind her. "There's _no_ way! M-Maybe it was Freakshow or Vlad or someone that set him up!"

Tucker looked up at Sam, "Freakshow is locked up and his staff was destroyed, remember? And I don't think Vlad would do something like that either…that doesn't seem like him…"

"Then come up with a better idea!" Sam barked, "Danny has plenty of enemies! I'm sure one of them is smart enough to do something like this!"

Robin leaned forward and cut into their conversation, "any explanation for who these people are?"

Sam turned to look at Robin, "Freakshow is just an idiot that controls ghosts for his own personal gain. Vlad is more of a challenging enemy, he's also Danny's arch enemy."

"You think it might be him?" Robin inquired.

Sam pondered the idea for a moment, "I'm not sure. He definitely loves to mess with us and often aims to defeat his enemies both physically and mentally."

Robin couldn't help but think of Slade as they described this man called Vlad, they seemed to strangely have similar ways of working. "I'll be sure to keep him in mind."

Sam gave a short nod and turned to walk over to the door, "come on, Tucker. We need to head back to Amity Park before too long."

Tucker nodded in agreement, but quickly looked at Robin before standing up, "we'll try to find out more from our town…and we'll let you know if we find anything." He seemed a bit unsure of himself as he spoke to the Titans leader.

"That'll definitely be appreciated." Robin stood up from his seat and walked with them out of the room.

==0==0==0==

"Any luck?" Raven asked the moment Robin arrived at Titan's Tower.

"They didn't know much that would help this case." Robin leaned his back against the nearby wall and released a heavy sigh. "Have you found anything here about Phantom?"

Raven leaned over a laptop that rested on the kitchen counter, "there's hundreds of articles in the Amity Park newspapers over the past year about him. The only bad things mentioned are the property damage."

"Keep looking." Robin ordered while straightening up. "I'll go talk to the others. You brought him here, right?"

Raven nodded.

"Good. We'll keep him here for a few days and see if we can get anything out of him." Robin grit his teeth, "I'm starting to get impatient with this case."

**A/N: I apologize if they seem out of character! I'm trying my best! Let me know what you think of the chapter! Sorry about all the talking! Next chapter is when actual fighting starts! Yay for fighting! ;D**

**And thanks to everyone who reviewed! **


	3. Creature

Guilty

Chapter 3: Creature

Danny's eyes rolled around behind his eyelids for a bit before he managed to open them. "Ow…" he grumbled, blinking several times to adjust to the lighting. Not only did he have a massive headache, his stomach growled with hunger and his jaw was swollen from Sam's punch. The first thing Danny saw when he woke up was a pair of huge eyes only an inch from his face.

"He's awake!" The person announced.

Danny's own eyes widened with shock and he let out a surprised cry, jerking backward instinctively to get away and the back of his head collided with something solid. He hissed and tried to bring his arm up to rub his head but quickly realized that he was unable to. Danny looked down at his right arm, he was handcuffed to the floor, with little chain to move. "What the?" He brought his other arm around to grab at the chain. Only his right arm was chained to the ground.

"Where the hell am I?" He groaned.

"Titan's Tower." A familiar voice responded.

Danny turned to his left and saw Robin staring at a computer screen, turned away from him. The room they were in was much brighter than the interrogation room he was previously in. It wasn't a huge room, but it had a table with a computer and some chairs to sit in. Danny wasn't given the opportunity to sit in one of the chairs however. "Why am I here?" Danny narrowed his eyes at the leader.

"We're going to keep an eye on you while we investigate." Robin replied.

Danny looked away from Robin to the person who sat only a foot away from him. He recognized the boy from earlier when he fought their group. He was younger than Danny, or at least seemed to be, and was _green_, not to mention he had pointed ears on the sides of his head.

"Hi!" The green kid smiled, "my name is Beast Boy. I'm supposed to keep an eye on you right now. We're all taking turns though, in case you try to run away."

The way he spoke seemed way too happy for _what_ he was saying. Danny didn't reply, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes in thought. Before too long, Danny looked down at the bands on his wrists, he flexed his hand and pulled it into a fist a few times, not that it really affected the band at all. Wanting to try something, he began to form a small ball of ectoplasm in his hand. Only a moment later, the energy seemed to backfire on him, making his hand jerk and numb with pain.

"Using your ghost powers is what made you pass out earlier." Robin turned away from the computer and faced Danny with his arms crossed over his chest, "it might make it easier on your body if you switch to your human self." The teen turned to leave the room, having finished what he was looking for on the computer.

"W-wait!" Danny barked, "how do you know about my human half!"

Robin ignored him completely, leaving without a word so that it was now only Danny and Beast Boy in the room.

For several minutes it was dead silent between them. Finally, the young green boy spoke up, "So, what's it like being half ghost? It must be cool, huh! I've seen you on tv a few times, you're really well known! I can change into animals, so I guess we both have something cool about us!" When Danny didn't answer, Beast Boy continued, "You can change into your human self if you want, like Robin said, it'll probably be easier on your body. Sorry about the chain thingy. We kinda have to keep an eye on you since you're a suspect and all!" His happy tone didn't change at all even when he brought up Danny being a suspect.

"Why are you talking to me?" Danny asked, sounding angrier than he intended to. He wasn't mad at Beast Boy.

At this, Beast Boy's ears drooped to the sides like a sad puppy, "well, from what Raven and Robin have said, they both don't think you're the criminal. And since that's the case I figured we could try to get along, ya know?" His hopeful gaze made Danny feel even worse.

"They're wrong. I am the criminal. So it's better for you to stay away from me."

Beast Boy shook his head, his ears perking up once more, "I don't think you are either. I have pretty good instincts." He grinned. "Hey, want some Tofu Ramen? I have some leftovers from earlier!"

"Tofu?" Danny chuckled, "no thanks." His heart twisted as the thought of Tofu reminded him of Sam and her constant suggestions to eat vegetarian food. _I'm sorry, Sam, Tucker, I hope that in the future you'll eventually forgive me…_

==0==0==0==

"He seems to be opening up a little bit to Beast Boy." Robin tapped his finger on his desk. In the same room were the other three members of the team, not including Beast Boy of course. Robin turned away from the screen that gave him the video of the camera set up in the room that Danny and Beast Boy were in.

"Perhaps it is because Beast Boy is being a friend toward the Ghost Boy." Starfire pointed out, "we must all try to be more friendly toward him, yes?"

"Star's right." Cyborg crossed his arms, "that kid is our prime suspect, right? But he doesn't seem to be willing to talk at all about what happened. If we're nicer to him, maybe he'll talk."

"I'm not so sure about that," Raven replied, "he wouldn't even talk to his best friends about what really happened. I doubt he'll talk to any of us."

Robin stood up straight, his lips tightly pressed together. "We predicted earlier that it's possible that he knew we were listening in on him and his friends. That could be why he didn't say anything, it's just a theory of course."

Cyborg sighed, "We're at a dead end, man. We got nothing to go off of for this investigation. We don't want to have to send this kid to prison for the rest of his life if it turns out that he isn't the one who did this."

Robin grit his teeth, "there _has _to be something that we're missing!" He raised his fist and slammed it down into the desk. The papers and pens sprawled across the desktop trembled from the impact. "I'm not going to give up on this until we have the truth! If this Phantom guy really didn't have anything to do with this, then we need to start figuring out _who_ did!"

Cyborg placed his large metallic hand on Robin's shoulder, "You're taking this too personal, Robin. We're all doing our best. So just calm down, alright?"

"Our best isn't good enough then." Robin shrugged Cyborg's hand off, "we need to go deeper into investigating instead of relying on pieces of paper the police give us."

Raven raised an eyebrow, "what do you mean?"

"I'll go to Amity Park and investigate this kid's life myself. Not just his ghost fighting life…" Robin narrowed his eyes at the screen showing Danny, "we need to learn more about his human life too."

"Must you go to Amity Park alone?" Starfire tilted her head in question, "all of us can-"

"I need you guys to stay here and watch him. I'll be fine by myself." Robin quickly replied.

==0==0==0==

Danny closed his eyes and relaxed. A pair of white rings formed horizontally from his body and split vertically to travel up and down his body. In a flash of light, the ghost teen changed into his average human self.

"Whoa! That was so cool!" Beast Boy nearly jumped with excitement at what he had witnessed. "How do you do that!"

Danny shrugged.

"So did you start out human and become a ghost? I started out normal and ended up like this. How did it happen?"

"I'm only half ghost." Danny leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling as he spoke, "I turned out like this by accident several months ago."

"How?" Beast Boy pressed for more information. He sat cross-legged directly in front of Danny, leaning forward with interest.

Danny wasn't thrilled to give information about himself, but most likely they would figure it out eventually anyway, he thought to himself. "My parents invention."

==0==0==0==

In the separate room, the four titans had all become silent and watched the screen intently as Danny gave information about himself to Beast Boy. They could hear them talk through speakers to go with the video.

"Even though this is information that his friends gave me," Robin rested his chin on his thumb and forefinger, "it's impressive that Beast Boy was able to get Phantom to say it himself. I didn't think he would tell us anything." He chuckled, "we should use him for more interrogations."

==0==0==0==

"So, is there anyone else like you?" Beast Boy elatedly asked.

Danny sighed, debating whether to talk about Vlad or not. "Yeah there is. We don't exactly get along though. I'd rather not say who he is, because he's not your guys' problem and you shouldn't get involved with him."

Only a moment later, Robin entered the room once more and walked up to Beast Boy and Danny, "this other half-ghost. Is it the Vlad guy that your friends mentioned?"

Danny's eyes widened with shock and then switched into a furious glare. His eyebrows knotted together and his forehead wrinkled, "you talked to them?"

"Right after you did, actually."

Danny snarled with fury, "leave them out of this! They don't need to be involved!"

"If you would give us the information we want then we wouldn't need to ask them about it. They were much more willing to help than you have been."

"I already told you that I did it! What more do you need! You found the victims at the crime scene already!"

"But we haven't found the people who are missing. _That's_ what we're working on right now!" Robin pointed his forefinger at Danny, "if you tell us where they are then we can close this case! We need to know if they're alive or not!"

Beast Boy's ears dropped to the sides of his face and he inched away from Robin and Danny, not liking the atmosphere in the room as they argued.

Danny's face twisted in pain, "they're most likely dead by now! Okay! You won't be able to find them!"

The room was silent for several long seconds.

"Where _are_ they?" Robin dropped down to a squat in front of Danny and grabbed a fistful of his white t-shirt then he shoved Danny painfully into the wall right behind him.

Danny was unable to do much, his right hand was cuffed to the ground and he was now in his human form. Changing into Danny Phantom right now would only result in pain and unconsciousness.

"Why are they 'most likely dead'? Tell me where they are!"

"I told you that you won't find them! Don't even bother trying!" Danny yelped as Robin yanked him forward, bringing their faces only inches apart.

"If you're a hero as you claim to be, then it's your duty to help others, right! Tell me where to find them and I'll go help them."

"Humans can't last very long in the Ghost Zone. There's no food or water, not to mention there's hundreds of thousands of evil ghosts in there!"

"Ghost Zone? What is that?"

Danny stopped talking and stared deeply into Robin's eyes hidden by his mask. "It's…none of your business. You wont be able to get there anyway and it would be useless."

"Why you-"

Robin's sentence was cut off as a painful, blaring alarm began to ring. He released Danny's shirt and stood up straight, looking at the camera facing them.

From the other room, Cyborg could see Robin looking at them for answers. Cyborg brought his forearm in front of his face where a small square of metal flipped up to show a screen and data from the tower. "Robin," Cyborg spoke and through the speakers in the two different rooms, Robin was able to hear him, "we've got an intruder! It's gotta be a ghost 'cause I don't see anything in the cameras. I'm guessing it's invisible."

Robin quickly replied with his commands. "Cyborg, head down to the basement. Star, head to the roof. Beast Boy go to the main entrance. Raven, go outside and make sure nobody gets out. All of you make sure nobody gets Phantom, and make sure Phantom doesn't escape! Catch anyone who is in the tower. Go!" with that said, each Titan took off.

Robin remained in place, looking at Danny with his sharp, inquiring eyes. Danny looked all around him, trying to figure out what the alarm was for. _It doesn't seem like this is an escape plan for him. _He shook his head and made a run for the door and into the hallway, leaving Danny on his own chained to the floor.

==0==o==0==

Starfire's hands brightly glowed green, her eyes matching the colour of her hands. Before her, a large _creature_ snarled at her. Standing at about five feet, the nearly human creature hunched over, skin pale with strange brown markings all along its body. It's white hair draped over its shoulders. Malicious and thirsty green eyes glared at Starfire. Its long nails seemed more like talons than anything else.

"Please," Starfire lowered her hands a bit, "Surrender. I do not wish to fight you."

Green saliva dripped from the creature's fangs and fell onto its clothes, or lack thereof. The black outfit it wore was nearly shredded to bits. It didn't respond to Starfire in any way. The creature rolled its head back and opened its jaws wide as though screaming to the heavens.

Starfire narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, not knowing what it was doing.

The creature then snapped its head forward, releasing a large glowing green beam from its mouth.

With a shriek, Starfire jumped out of the way of the attack. The wall that had taken the full damage of the attack was singed black and small green flames licked at the sides which hadn't yet been fully burned.

"Please do not destroy our home." Starfire asked with a bit of anger in her tone.

Another beam was fired from the enemy's mouth. This time, the Titan swung her glowing arms forward and countered the attack by punching it into a different direction.

A shrieking roar erupted from the creature, it seemed to be quite angry.

"Starfire!" Cyborg ran down the hallway toward her and the creature, he stopped at Starfire's side, "are you okay?" His right hand had shaped into a small canon with a whining blue energy on the inside.

"Yes. I do not know what this creature is."

"Neither do I." Cyborg replied quickly, "but he isn't goin' anywhere!"

The drooling creature took a staggering step forward, and then it released a rabid snarl before lunging toward the two Titans.

==0==o==0==

Beast Boy, having transformed into a large green hound, raised his nose into the air and took a few sniffs. His ear perked up a bit, smelling something unfamiliar.

A black mass of energy appeared on the floor next to Beast Boy, he turned to look and Raven emerged from the black area on the floor, "you know where it is?"

The green shapeshifter quickly transformed to his original self. "Yeah, I think so. Let Robin know, I think he's on one of the top floors."

Raven nodded and disappeared just as quickly as she had emerged.

The young Titan morphed into a green spotted cheetah, releasing a low growl before taking off at a rapid sprint, his destination being the top floor.

It didn't take him long to get there with his speed. He soon found Starfire and Cyborg, lying on the floor in the hallway. Eyes widening with horror, Beast Boy ran up next to them as his regular self. "Hey! Guys!" He dropped down next to Cyborg, lightly shaking his friend on the shoulder. "What happened!"

There was no response from either of them.

"Beast Boy."

The young one turned to face Robin approaching them, "Robin! I got here too late. They're okay," he assured his leader, "but they're unconscious."

Robin came to a stop, standing over Starfire and Cyborg with narrowed eyes. "Damn it! Is it after Phantom!"

==0==0==0==

"Get away from me!" Danny yanked furiously on the chain that held him in place, trying to escape from the monster that slowly closed in on him. Danny's eyes were wide and his heart raced in his chest. "Damn it!" His wrist throbbed from the constant pull on the chain.

The pale, white haired creature dropped to its knees ungracefully, only inches away from Danny. The teen raised his leg up and kicked the enemy with all his might.

"What the hell!" The impact rippled up Danny's leg. The creature, however, wasn't hurt at all, in fact it didn't move one inch. "Is your skin made of steel or something!" Danny pushed himself impossibly further against the wall. He couldn't go anywhere! "Damn it! This stupid chain won't come loose!"

The creature raised its unsightly hand, revealing the sharp talons.

"Get away!" Danny roared.

"Phantom…" Was the only thing the strange creature said before driving its hand forward, nails first, into Danny's abdomen.

Danny's blue eyes widened, his mouth gaped open. His entire body froze with shock. "C…c…" He inhaled deeply, trying to catch his breath. Blood ran down from his stomach, soaking his shirt. The teen's upper body lurched forward, specks of blood flew from his mouth as he coughed. Only a moment later, Danny could feel the energy in his body begin to drain, literally.

He looked down at the creature's hand in his stomach. Its pale, thin arm had vein-like lines trail up his arm, glowing a bright green.

_It's taking my ghost energy!_ Danny grit his teeth. _Damn it, Robin! The least you could do is make sure your intruder didn't get this far!_ The ghost boy's eyes began to glow a bright green. _No choice, I guess…I really didn't want to have to use my powers._ The small green light on Danny's strange bracelet turned red. Danny threw his head back, releasing a howl of agony as pain shot through his entire being from the stupid wrist band.

A blinding burst of white light exploded from Danny. The creature was thrown backward several feet. The wristband shattered into a thousand pieces as well as the chain that held him down.

Danny, in his black outfit with his white hair and glowing green eyes, stood in place with narrowed eyes. He glanced down at the wound on his stomach, it wasn't bleeding as much anymore since he was in his ghost form, but he still pressed one hand up to it in hopes that it wouldn't get worse. Danny grit his teeth, "what the hell are you? What do you want from me?"

Snarling, the creature pushed off the floor, lunging forward with its arms up and ready to attack. Danny hissed in pain and jumped backward, rotating horizontal to the floor and then kicked himself off of the wall behind him. Launching at bullet speed, Danny rotated his upper body enough that he could ram his elbow into its gut.

The attack was effective, that was for sure. With a few crunching bone sounds, the creature was thrown across the room, crashing into the wall painfully. It grunted and slid to the floor limply.

Danny's white glove stained green from holding the wound on his stomach. He didn't wait long before walking over to see if the creature was still alive after taking that hit. "What the hell are you anyway?"

A snarl that sounded much like a dog rumbled in it's throat. The creature's eyes snapped open as Danny approached it.

Danny's mouth opened slightly and his eyes widened with shock, "oh my god! You're-!"

The creature launched itself forward and wrapped its cold, disgusting hand around Danny's neck and proceeded to slam him into the floor. It stood on all fours over Danny with its hand pinning the ghost boy down by the throat.

Danny could feel the air knocked out from his lungs, and for several frightening seconds he couldn't breathe whatsoever. It didn't help at all that this thing was pressing against his neck!

"Get. Off. Me!" Danny raised an arm and attempted to punch the creature from his position on the ground. With no space to build up a punch, the hit didn't work. The strange white-haired creature opened its jaws wide as Danny's fist got close and with its sharp teeth it closed its mouth down upon Danny's hand.

The tips of the teeth easily cut through Danny's skin. He howled in pain as the monster bit down even harder on his hand, as though making Danny his next meal!

Drops of green blood trickled down his forearm.

"Damn it! Let go!" With his free hand, Danny forced himself to create a ball of ectoenergy in his palm and drove it into the creature's gut from below.

Danny felt the teeth painfully get ripped away from his hand, leaving a blood-soaked mess.

The monster regained its posture and roared with fury. Danny didn't know if he had it in him to keep going. Breaking out of that wristband and chains was painful and seemed to kill his stamina by a lot, and now he had two injuries to deal with.

From the doorway of the room, a large green cheetah pounced on the intruder. Beast Boy dug his nails into the monster and bit it with his large, powerful teeth.

Following Beast Boy, Robin entered the room and ran toward Danny. He stepped in front of the halfa with his bo-staff extended, facing Beast Boy and the monster as though to protect Danny.

"Beast Boy! Make sure you don't kill it!" Robin ordered.

A black circle emerged on the floor right next to Danny and through it Raven appeared. Danny cried out in fear and used his legs to back up as far as he could from her. "Stay away from me!"

_What did Raven do to make him so scared of her?_ Robin thought to himself. _Every time she shows up he backs away…_

"Robin, Cyborg and Starfire are resting right now, it seems like they'll be alright."

"Good." Robin turned his attention back to the fight between Beast Boy and this odd creature, "now we just have to worry about this thing." Robin then glanced at Danny, "Raven, get him out of here too and patch him up before he bleeds to death."

Raven nodded, but before she could do anything, Danny spoke up against it, "don't you _dare_ touch me! Don't come near me!"

"You'll die if you don't get help!" Robin snapped angrily.

"I'm fine! I'm a ghost, remember!"

"Half-ghost." Robin tightened his grip on his bo-staff, "Fine, do what you want. Raven, come on, let's help Beast Boy." The two Titans joined the battle against the creature.

Danny leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Even though he said that, he knew that he needed some help. This wound was big enough that it wasn't healing very quickly.

The clashes, pounding and loud noises filled up the room from the fight. The halfa slowly lie down on his side, breathing deeply through his mouth. He slowly opened his eyes and looked over to see what was happening.

Things seemed to be fairly equal between them.

The beat up monster was heaving in and out, starting to run out of energy left to fight. Opening it's jaw wide, the creature began to inhale deeply.

"What's it doing?" Beast Boy, still as a cheetah, inquired.

"Stay alert!" Robin barked.

Danny, from his place on the floor, grumbled and cursed. Gritting his teeth and sucking up the pain, Danny forced himself to use his last burst of energy.

The creature, having inhaled as much as it would, began to release the attack it had built up for. Waves of green energy began to erupt from its mouth, shaking the entire room and creating a high-pitched scream.

Danny brought himself in front of the three Titans, and opened his mouth as wide as he could, having already built up his attack. The high-pitched scream collided with Danny's own ghostly wail. A burst of hot energy pulsed throughout the room as the ectoenergy crashed.

All three Titans covered their ears with their hands in an attempt to cancel out the noise that threatened to deafen them all.

Danny didn't know how long he was forced to hold that wail. He kept going until he couldn't feel the opposing power anymore. As soon as the creature ceased, Danny stopped his attack. His ghostly features had faded away throughout the course of his wail and he immediately collapsed to the floor with a 'thud'.

Robin didn't wait long before darting forward and dropping down to one knee next to Danny.

"What was _that_!" Beast Boy cried, literally. With his sensitive ears, the noise was strong enough to bring tears to his eyes.

Raven stretched her arm forward and wrapped the unconscious creature inside of a black mass so he couldn't escape easily.

"Is he okay?" The green boy asked with concern.

Robin gently rolled Danny so he was laying flat on his back, "I think he'll be alright…He'll need some help immediately though." The Titan leader looked up at Beast Boy, "go run to the infirmary and see if Cyborg has woken up yet. He'll be able to help him better than we can."

Beast Boy nodded took off at a sprint.

"Robin, do you think…" Raven started.

"Yeah…call my crazy, but I think that creature had all of the same powers as Phantom…" Robin looked up at her, just as confused as she was.

"Do you think we were right about him?" Raven asked.

Robin shrugged, "He was definitely quick to jump in and help us. But there's so many things we don't know about this guy…it's hard to tell if he's on our side or not…"

**A/N: Sorry about the late update! But I made this chapter a bit longer if that makes up for my absence!**

**Please review and tell me what you think! I'm willing to take criticism as well! And thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! **


	4. Invade

Guilty

Chapter 4: Invade

_Previously: Danny was being held at the Titan's Tower for interrogation when a strange ghost appeared and attacked them. Strangely, this ghost seems to have all of the same powers as Danny. Even though they are his enemies, Danny saved the Titan's from this creature and has fallen unconscious. Robin can't decide whether Danny is on their side or not._

==0==0==0==

"What was this Ghost Zone that he was talking about?" Robin clicked the mouse of his computer multiple times, searching all of his reliable sources for information about it.

Just before that strange creature had showed up, Robin was trying to get information about where the missing victims were and then the Ghost Zone was brought up. Robin sighed and leaned back away from the computer screen that lit up his face in the dark room. He glanced at the clock on his desk; it was already past three in the morning. A lot had happened only a few hours ago. "Now we just have to wait for Phantom to wake up…"

Robin wasn't quite sure when that would be. Phantom had done a lot. The Titan leader tightened his fist, feeling somewhat responsible for what happened. He felt that he should have stayed with Phantom so that the creature wouldn't get to him during the chaos.

"Robin, he isn't responding to any medicine." Raven walked into his room without making a noise at all.

The leader spun around in his chair to face her, "is Cyborg with him now?"

Raven nodded, "There's a possibility that he fell into a coma…but we're not positive right now."

"Damn it." Robin balled his hands into fists, "we can't have that! We're in the middle of an investigation, and we don't have much to go off of without him…"

Raven seemed a bit uneasy as she spoke, "Robin, I've been thinking…I can use my powers to go in his mind and try to help him."

Robin eyes widened, taken aback by her suggestion. "You do realize what you're saying, right? That would be extremely risky and it might be strange if it's someone you don't know at all. It was different when you went into my mind…we know each other and I didn't fight against your presence. But we know for a fact that he doesn't like to be near you, if you invade his mind he might try to fight you off…we don't know what that might result in. I don't like that idea."

"Yeah, there are risks. But it might work. When I went into your mind, I was able to see glimpses of your past and your feelings. If it's the same with Phantom, I might be able to see some of his past that could help us with investigating." Raven continued, "when we fought Phantom that first time and I captured him with my magic, I was able to feel what he was feeling at the time. It wasn't anger or hatred toward us. He was scared and in pain."

"And you think we should help him?" Robin inquired.

Raven nodded, "Somebody is obviously after him. I have a feeling that the creature that attacked him was sent by someone else. We need to try and solve this case and at the same time, protect him from whoever wants him dead."

==0==0==0==

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Cyborg asked, looking at the unconscious teenage boy on the bed.

"Cyborg," Robin sternly crossed his arms and stood by Raven, "she already decided."

Raven looked at the two of them, "It'll be fine, don't worry."

"Do be careful, Raven!" Starfire clasped her hands together, "we shall await your safe return!" Starfire seemed full of energy, despite the fact that she had been knocked out not too long before, though she didn't have any permanent damage of course.

Beast Boy stood by Starfire and gave Raven an encouraging grin, "yeah, be careful in there!"

"It's not me you should be worried about." Raven sat on the hospital bed located directly next to Danny's bed and crossed her legs. She brought herself into a meditation stance and exhaled deeply. "_Azarath Metrion Zinthos_". She calmly recited her all too familiar phrase.

A black mass emerged from her body, like a spirit being pulled away from its host. The darkness immediately dove toward the halfa and seemed to vanish the moment it came in contact with him.

==0==0==0==

Raven rarely did acts like this, and when she did, she would always do her best not to pry into their memories or feelings. However, Raven would always get glimpses of past events even if she wasn't trying. Normally those glimpses were of strong or meaningful memories to the person.

She vaguely remembered seeing Robin's past when she entered his mind. She could see a part of a circus with bright lights, a large cave underground and then she saw some of his memories of Slade.

Raven could see images rush by her as she dove deeper and deeper into his mind, searching for him. She briefly saw the two teens from the other day, Sam and Tucker. She could see different places, some buildings that she didn't recognize that she assumed were from his home town. Raven then saw a large green area with purple floating doors.

A moment later, she felt her skin start to burn with scorching heat. She blinked quickly and when her eyes opened, she was surrounded by white fire. Since the memory flashes had stopped and she was stuck here, Raven assumed that this is where Danny was currently trapped.

Everything was on fire. Even the brick buildings and the sidewalk that she stood on were up in flames. Even though her clothes weren't catching on fire, she could feel the heat of the flames on her skin.

A loud smash reached her ears, coming from nearby. Raven quickly went toward the noise. Around the corner of a nearby building, Raven found Danny. He remained in his Phantom outfit. Danny's white hair was stained in a few places with blood, his suit was battered and torn, and bruises had already started to form on his face.

Even though she didn't make a sound, Danny noticed the intrusion. His head snapped in her directly and he turned to face her. He gasped for breath and was hunched over with exhaustion. "What are you doing here!" He snarled, "Get out! Now!" He coughed heavily and dropped to his knees, his arms wrapped around his torso in pain.

Raven took a few steps forward, extending her hand toward him instinctively.

"No!" Danny's voice cracked, "Get the hell out of here! Go away!" His eyes were widened fearfully and sweat dripped from his face.

"What's wrong?" Raven calmly asked, "I'm here to help you. You're in a coma right now. You need to calm down and listen to me."

Danny shook his head multiple times, "N-no! _He's_ here! He wouldn't be here if I were unconscious! I defeated him! He must have escaped!" The young teen fearfully looked over his shoulder, "if I don't defeat him…he'll kill them!"

"This _isn't_ real. None of it. This is all in your head." Raven took a few more steps forward and reached out, placing her hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Danny jumped away from her hand, backing up several feet to keep a good distance from her.

"Are you really that scared of me? What did I do to make you so terrified?"

The moment she said that, Danny's brain immediately jumped to the memory of his first fight with the Teen Titans. Raven watched the scene replay from Danny's point of view. The moment Danny was engulfed in her magic, everything was hell for him. Being in his mind right now, she could feel a bit of what he felt at the time, and that consisted of an absolute break down both mentally and physically.

"I didn't do anything except grab a hold of you with my powers." Raven narrowed her eyes, "how did this even happen?"

Danny's bloodshot eyes met with hers, "heh, obviously you didn't spend much time researching ghosts, huh? I've never come in contact with it before…until then. Your power is one of the only things in the world that can completely destroy a ghost from the face of the earth!" Danny brought his hands up to either side of his head, grabbing fistfuls of his hair, "I've…I've never experienced anything like that! I felt like I was dying…no, worse than dying! I was being erased from existence! Y-you can't even imagine what that feels like…" Tears began to roll down Danny's cheeks, "you wouldn't understand! I've already become half ghost! To think that I'm half dead already…what if I become a full ghost tomorrow! I can't leave my friends and my family! I have to defeat _him_ before he takes over! And he's probably listening now, just waiting to strike!"

Raven could only watch as Danny became more and more lost in his emotions. She hadn't realized the effect her powers had on ghosts. She wondered if her powers were hurting him right now since she invaded his mind.

The white flames grew larger, closing in on them and blocking off all exits.

A maniacal laugh erupted from the shadows. Raven peered left and right in search of the enemy. "Danny," she sternly said his name, it was the first time she had called him by name, "I didn't know that my powers had that affect on you. I'm sorry." She turned her head to look directly at him, "you wouldn't be doing anyone a favor by dying here. You need to wake up, the longer you stay here the harder it will be to open your eyes later." Raven continued, "I know you're innocent and I know that we can still save those missing people, but we need your help to do that. Please, you don't have to trust me or any of the Titans, but I'm asking you to work with us."

"Aw, how touching." A chilling voice broke the silence.

Danny's eyes widened with horror, "Raven, you need to-"

Blood splattered across her outfit. Raven gasped as Danny tumbled backward with a long cut across his chest.

"Danny, what-" Before she realized it, she had been slashed across the back. _Where is it? I can't see anyone attacking. Is it an attack from far away? _Her torn cloak still managed to hold together, but was starting to darken with blood dripping from the wound. Raven took a deep breath and focused, ignoring the throbbing cut beneath her shoulder blades.

Danny pressed his hand against the wound, "Damn it. He's too fast. We won't be able to defeat him like this!" Despite the agony he endured while moving, Danny forced himself to stand upright, ready to fight. "This is my problem, you don't have to get involved with it. Leave before he comes back!"

"Danny, clear your mind for a minute. None of this is really happening. When are you going to understand that?"

The teen glared at her, "how can you tell me this isn't happening when I'm seeing it happen right now! Not only can I see it, I can feel it! That bastard has finally come back for revenge, and this time he's stronger!" Danny grit his teeth tightly, "I'm not crazy, alright! I know what I've seen!"

"Danny! You'll die if you don't listen to me! Alright?" Raven rose her voice a little bit to grab his attention but remained as calm as she could manage. If she let her emotions run wild, her magic would do the same which would most likely result it someone getting hurt, specifically Danny.

Danny turned to look at her straight in the eyes for only a moment. He gasped and cried, "watch out!"

Raven lurched forward, dropping down to her knees. She wasn't sure what had hit her, but it was enough to bring her down. She coughed, feeling the warm iron tasting liquid drip from her mouth. Then, she fell flat on the ground. Her body began to feel a bit cold.

==0==0==0==

Several wires had been placed on Raven's body to monitor her heart and breathing rate. The team all stayed in the room, waiting for her to wake up.

"This is taking too long!" Robin growled impatiently.

"It's only been a couple hours. You gotta remember, the time that passes in our heads is a lot different than real time. We don't know if she's even gotten to him yet." Cyborg calmly replied.

Raven's eyes remained closed and she sat completely still on the hospital bed. Only a few minutes later, her face contorted in agony and she released a small gasp.

Robin's head snapped toward her with concern, "Raven?" He walked closer to her.

Her heart rate began to rise.

All of them gasped with horror as a thin line became visible across Raven's back, which quickly began to bleed.

Cyborg was the first to act. He reached into a drawer nearby and pulled out some large bandaging. "Whatever's goin' on in there is obviously not good."

"Shouldn't we just wake her up?" Beast Boy inquired.

"We can't do that. Right now, we can't do anything from the outside." Robin crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowed together with anger.

Beast Boy whimpered slightly.

"Do not worry, Beast Boy." Starfire smiled, "Raven shall return safely no matter what!"

After the cut on her back, things were quiet for a while. Another half hour had passed.

Robin sat in a chair located next to the hospital bed that she sat on. Starfire and Beast Boy left the room to go check on the creature they had caught earlier, just to make sure it wasn't going crazy or trying to escape.

Raven's meditating body fell limp. Her sitting up cross-legged position unfolded and she now lay on her back across the bed. The monitors connected to her body started to beep rapidly.

Robin stood up immediately. "Raven!"

The white sheets began to stain red. Raven coughed, a few droplets of blood spurted from her mouth.

"Raven!" Robin shouted.

Cyborg ran over to the two of them and gently rolled Raven to her side, inspecting her back. "Something got her from behind again. Damn it. It looks pretty bad. I'll start treating it right away!"

"Raven! Can you hear me?" Robin huffed with anger. In his head he was trying to think of ways he could help. He exhaled deeply and reached down to grab a hold of her hand gently.

==0==0==0==

Danny backed up against the wall, looking left and right at the flames that slowly closed in on him. He then looked over at Raven, who remained motionless on the ground. "Where is he…" Danny wasn't able to see him at all! He was too fast!

"Where am I?" A cold voice chuckled, "can't you see? I'm right in front of you!" A figure appeared in front of Danny, laughing maliciously.

Danny felt a hand wrap around his neck and thrust him back against the wall. Danny's vision became fuzzy the moment his head connected with the building. The force was strong enough that it split the skin on the back of Danny's head. He hissed with agony and fought against the hand that held him.

The halfa looked at his enemy's face, which was a mere foot away from him. He could see the Phantom outfit that he was familiar with and blue skin accompanied by flaming white hair and red eyes. This enemy however wasn't what Danny was expecting. Danny had only met himself from ten years in the future, in other words, he met an older version of himself. This person however, was not older. He had the same features as Dan, but he was still very young.

"Surprised?" The young Dan asked with a wide grin.

"You're me…when my ghost fused with Vlad's… I remember Vlad telling me about it a long time ago. That's how Dan was created… so why are you here? That hasn't happened!"

"You're smart, Danny. You can figure it out, can't you? Not that it'll make any difference." Dan tossed Danny to the ground like a rag doll.

Danny groaned and slowly started to pick himself up.

Dan glanced over at Raven, "shame she had to show up. She was one of the only ones who seemed to think you were innocent."

Danny grit his teeth, "Why are you-"

"Listen, Danny," Dan smirked, "I know what you did, alright? And I guess if you really think about it…you're the one responsible for all of those deaths, aren't you? Is that why you're blaming yourself?"

The halfa tightened his fist shakily, "you don't know anything! So just shut the hell up you monster!"

"Ah, so you get annoyed when people tell you that you're innocent…and you also get pissed when I say that you're guilty…Ha! You never fail to entertain me, kid."

Danny swung limply at Dan in hopes of landing a punch.

"You've got to be joking me." Dan effortlessly reached out and grabbed Danny's swinging arm. With movements too fast for Danny to follow, Dan yanked Danny down to the ground by the arm. Not only was Danny thrown to the ground, his arm was slammed into the concrete with incredible force. The cracking sound echoed in his ears and his entire arm shook with pain. The bone on his forearm was broken.

Dan said a few comments, which Danny was unable to hear past his scream. When Danny finally calmed down and stopped wailing, he looked at his damaged arm while still lying on the ground. He could see it was twisted oddly and was still trembling.

"Humans are so breakable. They die so easily. So don't feel bad about killing those people, right?" Dan flashed a smile, "it's their fault for being weak, useless humans to begin with."

"All ghosts were once human too!" Danny cried, "You can't just carelessly take their lives because they're weaker than you! They don't deserve to die! Nobody _deserves_ to die!"

Dan opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"Well said." A male voice spoke up behind Dan.

Dan turned his head in surprise and received a face-full of bo-staff. The metal rod collided with his skull and caused him to stumble before falling.

Danny, with moist eyes, looked up at Robin, standing in the midst of the flames that surrounded them. "W-what the hell are _you _doing here!"

"Hm," Robin twirled his bo-staff in hand, "is that any way to greet someone who's trying to help you?"

"I don't need your help!" Danny shouted.

"Really?" Robin lightly tapped Danny's arm with the end of his bo-staff, causing Danny to howl in agony, "'cause it really seems like you could use it."

"Y-you bastard!" Dan stood up and hissed his forked tongue at Robin, "you'll pay for that!"

Robin raised his weapon, "You're the one who's going to pay! For hurting my friend!"

Danny glanced over at Raven, who hadn't moved at all since she collapsed.

Dan charged at Robin, menacingly snarling like a rabid dog. Robin remained calm and once Dan was close enough, he thrust his bo-staff forward. The rod struck Dan in the throat and was pushed all the way through his neck. Robin slammed Dan into the ground, towering over the blue creature while holding his end of the bo-staff.

There was no blood spilled from the large hole that Robin created in Dan's neck.

One last smirk was all Dan gave before he vanished from sight.

Danny's eyes widened, "where'd he go!"

"Who cares?" Robin stood up straight, holding his bo-staff at his side. His eyes turned to look at Danny, "he never existed to begin with. If you hadn't been so blind to reality, the he wouldn't have appeared in your head in the first place!" He marched over to Danny, "if you had listened to Raven when she told you that this was all fake then she wouldn't have been hurt!"

Robin raised his foot and slowly brought it down on Danny's broken arm, pressing hard enough to make Danny scream once more. "Be quiet you lousy ghost! This injury isn't real either! It's all in your head, got that!" He grit his teeth with fury, "Raven on the other hand…is getting treatment out in the real world right now! Even if this is all part of your stupid thoughts, Raven risked her own life to come in here to help you and because of that, her body was actually injured!"

The Titan pulled his foot off of Danny's arm, "if she dies…" he muttered with a tone that froze Danny to the core, "you will definitely be the one to blame…" He walked over to Raven's unconscious body and dropped to his knees beside her. "Get us all out of here now."

Danny breathed heavily, his entire arm throbbed with excruciating pain. "B-but I don't know how."

"Just wake up already! Open your eyes!" Robin ordered.

Danny looked at his surroundings, _this is all…fake? _Everything looked so real to him. _How did Robin defeat Dan so quickly and easily while Raven and I couldn't even land a hit on him? _

"Probably because it's what you wanted. Remember, this isn't the real world. Everything that happened in here was caused by you. You couldn't defeat him because you _thought_ that you weren't strong enough. You _thought_ that Raven would be hurt if she stayed, and she was."

"Whoa! Whoa!" Danny barked, "you can read minds now!"

Robin raised an eyebrow, "you were thinking too loudly, I could hear it. We're in your goddamn head right now! How many times do I need to tell you that!"

Danny growled, "but that doesn't explain why _you_ were able to kill him!"

"I don't know how your brain works, Phantom. I can only guess that you wanted somebody to show up and help defeat him. But you didn't think of it up until Raven was brought down. And since I was the first one to show up…"

"That doesn't make one bit of sense!" Danny hissed, "you can't know all of that after two minutes of being in my head! And anyway, how the hell did you get in here!"

"Long story. If you get the three of us out of here I'll gladly sit down and chit-chat with you, alright Phantom?"

Danny huffed in annoyance before closing his eyes and concentrated.

==0==0==0==

Cyborg sat with Starfire and Beast Boy in silence. All of them were startled when Danny inhaled sharply and sat up.

Following him, Robin raised his head and blinked a few times, "we're back."

Robin glanced over at Danny who dragged himself off of the hospital bed, stumbling around like a drunken idiot. Danny fell to all fours and proceeded to crawl away from the Titans.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Robin inquired.

"I have to..." Danny was out of breath, as though he had just run a marathon. He stopped his escape and took a moment to calm down before continuing, "where…was I going?"

"Back to the bed." Cyborg answered for him, "even if you're our enemy, I'm the doctor right now. So lay back down and rest or you'll hurt yourself more."

Danny staggered to a stand, "What about the clone!" Danny paused, "or was that all in my head too…"

"So it _was_ a clone!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "we didn't know if it was some fail copy of you or just a crazy coincidence that…" He stopped speaking when Robin glared at him.

"If it was your clone why was it after you?" Robin asked.

"L…Long story…" Danny muttered.

"You're a prisoner right now, Phantom. You have plenty of time. So start talking."

Danny huffed, "I thought you were in a hurry to get into the Ghost Zone to go after the missing people."

Robin smirked, "I already have that taken care of. But it's nice of you to be concerned." He mocked.

"I'm not…" Danny lowered his head and made his way back to the bed. He noticed the bed on the other side of the room that was blocked with a curtain. He assumed that Raven was there. "How is she?"

"Alive at least." Cyborg replied.

Danny rested his head on the pillow and lay in silence. _'I already have that taken care of'? What does he mean by that? He was able to find someone to go into the Ghost Zone? Who the hell would…? _Danny's eyes widened and he sat up once again, cringing a bit from his injuries from his fight with the clone. "You didn't!" He shouted, glaring dangerously at Robin.

"What?" Robin inquired.

"Did you make Sam and Tucker go into the Ghost Zone for you!"

Robin crossed his arms, "they were the ones who volunteered to help with the investigation. They said that they've been in there several times, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Danny stood up from his bed once more and marched over to Robin, snarling viciously. Upon reaching him, Danny grabbed the front of Robin's red shirt with his hands and pulled him up from his seat, bring his face close. "You're willing to put them in danger for the sake of _your_ stupid investigation! Sure they've been to the Ghost Zone with _me_! You bastard! You don't know what it's like in there! It's the flip side of this world, it's a massive area that is easy to get lost in and there's hundreds of thousands of ghosts that are territorial beyond belief! They could easily be killed in there! Did you think of that! Huh!"

"Yeah, actually I did." Robin narrowed his masked eyes and thrust his fist forward, driving his knuckles into Danny's abdomen. Danny immediately released Robin's shirt while stepping backward, grasping his stomach.

Danny did tend to heal faster than any normal human ever could; however, he wasn't invincible. The injuries he received during the battle against that creature did a number on him, especially on his stomach. Danny painfully remembered how that creature had driven its hand into Danny's stomach and tried to absorb all of his ghost energy.

"Robin," Starfire spoke up, having kept silent mostly the entire time, "perhaps you shouldn't damage him any further. He is still healing from the battle."

Robin grunted, "I won't show mercy to a criminal." He started to walk toward the exit of their infirmary but stopped at the doorway and turned around, "get up, Phantom. We're leaving."

Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Danny all looked up with surprise.

"Where're ya going?" Beast Boy asked innocently.

"We're heading over to Amity Park. If you want to go into the Ghost Zone to get your friends, then let's go."

"W-What?" Danny asked, "You're going to let me go in there?"

"If you're willing to go in there, we can save those people and your two friends. You're taking me with you. You're still a suspect in this investigation so I don't plan on taking my eyes off of you. This is your one chance, Phantom. Take it or leave it."

"Whoa, whoa, Robin!" Cyborg interrupted, "it's like Starfire said, this kid is still hurt. You can't expect him to get up and leave right now! Also, what about Raven! You're just going to leave her here and go?"

"Right now all Raven needs is rest to heal up. Me being here isn't going to speed things along at all. That's why it'll just be the two of us going. You three will stay here to make sure Raven is okay _and_ keep an that creature we caught." Robin turned to Danny, "I'm not a very patient person, Phantom. Are you going to take my deal or not?"

Danny bit his lip. Instead of replying vocally, he changed into his ghostly form with white hair and striking neon green eyes.

Robin turned and walked out of the room, "I'll be on my bike, you lead the way by flying."

==0==0==0==

Robin swung his leg over his red motorcycle and got all adjusted and in place.

Danny patiently waited, hovering a few feet away from Robin. Danny wasn't sure what had happened, but Robin, although still a jerk to him, was being a bit more trusting and understanding. Danny wasn't quite sure why. _He has to realize that right now I could easily ditch him by flying away to escape. Why is he giving me so much freedom?_

Finally, Danny could see that Robin was ready to go. Danny smirked "Don't fall behind." The teen began to fly horizontal to the ground, staying along the roads so that Robin could follow him. The two of them were going at an impressive speed; Danny would turn periodically to see if Robin was keeping up.

In his head, Danny was thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong in the ghost zone. The list was endless! _If anything happens to them…Robin, I swear I'll make you pay! _

==0==0==0==

Sam groaned and lifted her head up.

"Oh, good. Sam, you're finally awake…" Tucker chuckled nervously.

Sam's eyes took a few seconds to focus, "where are we?" She finally took a look at her surroundings and remembered that her and Tucker were in the Ghost Zone.

"That's…a really good question…" Tucker sat next to her and waited for her to sit up.

"Were…we caught?" Sam asked.

"Another good question…and I have no idea…but…I think that's the least of our problems…"

Sam raised an eyebrow, "what do you mean?" She turned to look directly at Tucker and gasped, horrified. She then looked down at herself and released a terrified scream. "What the hell happened to us!"

"Um…well as you can see…" Tucker raised his hand to look at his half transparent flesh. Sam also looked down at herself, realizing that she could see through her body. "…We're ghosts…"

* * *

**A/N: I AM DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL! Hell yes! **

**Today was my last day of high school and since I was in a freaking awesome mood, I came home and typed up this chapter! I already have this entire story planned out, so it's not an issue of coming up with ideas, it's finding time to do it! Grrr. But now that it's summer, I'm sure I'll have more time to post new chapters! **

**I hope this chapter interested you somewhat, even though I am well aware that it was very fast paced. I had fun writing it! Sorry to leave it off at such an…odd place, haha! **

**Anyway, a few things about this chapter. I may have gone overboard a bit, but I hope it wasn't too ridiculous. And I've noticed that I always have people break their bones…which sucks. I've broken a few bones in the past…it hurts…a lot. If you've ever had that happen then you can relate! **

**Either way, now that school is out, I am hoping I can do some updating on my stories! But as you all probably know, I'm terrible at keeping up to date on my posts. But I'll do my best!**

**Please review! Flames and criticism are allowed! See you next time!**


	5. Unfortunate News

Guilty

Chapter 5: Unfortunate News

Both Robin and Danny sat at a small gray-painted picnic table located at a rest-stop. Danny had both his elbows propped up on the table, he breathed deeply through his nose, having gotten a bit exhausted from flying for so long. Danny knew that normally he would be able to fly a lot faster for a much longer period of time, but since he was still healing, things were a bit more difficult.

The awkward silence didn't cease as they sat there. Neither of them looked at the other for a long time.

Finally, Danny perked his head up, "hey. You said before that if I got the three of us out then you would sit down and talk to me."

For a moment, Robin raised an eyebrow with confusion. "Oh, right." He dully replied, "about how I got into your head, right?"

Danny nodded in confirmation.

Robin unenthusiastically began to explain, "Whenever Raven uses her powers on something or someone, a bond is created between them, like a link of some sort. A while ago, Raven did the same to me as she did for you, she used her magic to go inside of my mind. It was a bit different because I was still conscious. But since then, Raven and I have shared a bond with our minds. And with that, I guess I was able to pull myself into your mind because Raven was already there. Entering someone's mind isn't easy, sometimes you find things about the person that impacted them in life. It is, in every sense, an invasion of privacy. Raven was able to learn some things about me that none of the rest of the Titans know about. It's dangerous, and Raven doesn't usually use her powers for it, but in your case she wanted to help you."

Danny shook his head, "this whole magic thing is way too complicated." Danny nervously continued, "did…did you see anything when you went into my head?"

Robin stood up from the table, acting as though he didn't hear Danny's question, "we should get going again. We don't want to take too long resting. It should only be an hour or so before we reach Amity Park."

Danny growled under his breath and stood up. "What did you see! Whatever it was must have made you change your mind about me! Because ever since we got out of my head you've been unusually nice to me!"

Robin let out a short laugh, "listen here, kid." He unsheathed his bo-staff from his belt and extended it, pointing it threateningly at Danny, "I don't remember ever being friendly with you. If you're misinterpreting my actions as 'nice' then that's your own problem. The only reason I'm even talking to you is because it is helpful to me in order to gain information about you. For all you know, that whole bit about Raven entering my mind could have been a lie so that you would trust me more."

Danny narrowed his eyes fiercely.

"A bit of advice, kid." Robin put his bo-staff away and started to walk to his motorcycle, "never trust an enemy, and never believe them. It'll save you a lot of trouble and pain."

Danny smirked, "you know this from experience?"

Robin didn't answer.

"Hey, dude, stop calling me 'kid', I'm not _that_ much younger than you!"

"If you young enough that you don't have a driver's license…then that makes you a kid." Robin mounted his motorcycle, "And don't call _me_ 'dude', you sound like Beast Boy."

"You're annoying." Danny raised himself a few inches into the air.

"And _you're_ immature."

The two of them took off, coming close to the city boundaries of Amity Park.

==0==0==0==

"What _happened_!" Sam's eyes were narrowed furiously as she strangled Tucker with her bear-like grip.

His eyes bulged and he held up a 'time-out' hand, "S…Sam…you're killing me…" he choked.

"_Obviously_ I'm not because we're already freaking dead!" She growled rabidly before releasing him. "What the hell happened! I don't remember!" She massaged her temple with her fingers.

Tucker coughed and held his throat tenderly, "I don't really know either, but strangling me isn't going to solve your problems!"

"Uuugh!" Sam fumed, "Danny's going to be SO pissed! How are we supposed to explain this to him!" Her eyes lowered with sadness, remembering the situation they were in with Danny, "that's right…I forgot that he didn't really want us involved at all…"

"B-but, he's probably just protecting us!" Tucker pointed out.

"Yeah, and that's the problem! If he was trying to protect us by not telling us anything…he'll blame himself if we died because he'll think that he failed."

"Yeah…he is kind of like that…"

Sam looked at her surroundings, "where are we? This isn't a part of the Ghost Zone I recognize." She looked down at the small platform they sat on, which floated randomly in place, "And where's the Specter Speeder? Mr. and Mrs. Fenton will be pissed if we lost it!"

"Don't you think they'll be more pissed if we died?"

Sam snarled at Tucker, "will you stop bringing up the fact that we're dead! M-maybe we're not really _dead_ dead! What if our bodies are still hanging around, ya know? We could still get back to them!"

"Like Zombies!"

"Uugh. You're useless." Sam stood up, "come on, let's find a way out of here. We'll figure something out." Sam, without hesitating, jumped off of the platform they sat on and began to fly into the open space.

Tucker's eyes widened for a moment, "whoa! Sam, when did you learn to fly?"

Sam turned her head to glance back at him, "I don't know. Instinct."

Tucker followed as she had done, trying to increase his flying speed to catch up with her. "Hey, since we're dead, do you think we'll have cool ghost powers like Danny?"

"Aren't you being a bit too cheery about this, Tucker!" Sam narrowed her eyes with fury, "this isn't a laughing matter! We need to figure out what happened to us and _fix_ it before Danny finds out! I don't want to add to his problems…"

"Jeez, alright. I was just trying to look on the bright side." Tucker exhaled deeply, "But we did get a request from Robin, remember? Do we want to finish what he asked us to do, or do we want to worry about our situation?"

Sam paused. "That's a good question…why not do both? Let's split up and do both jobs."

"You make it sound so easy." Tucker sighed, "which do you want to do? If I get to pick, I'd rather keep looking for the missing people. It seems like a less dangerous job!"

"Wow, thanks." Sam nodded, "alright, we'll do that. I'll go ahead and try to find out who _killed_ us…and hopefully find our bodies…" She shivered a bit, "as fun as that sounds… And in 24 hours, let's meet up by Danny's Ghost Portal."

Tucker nodded, "alrighty then."

The two of them took off, going separate ways. Neither of them could shake off the uneasy feeling in their bodies.

==0==0==0==

Danny's heart ached as they made their way through the city in the dark night. Mostly all of the lights were out except the street lamps, which made the road visible. He hadn't known when he would be seeing his town again; it had only been a few days, but to him, it felt like a century since he'd seen this place.

He turned and looked back at Robin briefly before slowing to a stop in the street, Robin stopped as well. Danny lowered himself down to ground level, "alright, there's two ways we can get into the Ghost Zone from Amity Park…I feel like we should take Vlad's portal to get there…it's probably easier."

Robin nodded, "then take us there." He remembered hearing the name Vlad before from Sam and Tucker, and from the way they mentioned him, Vlad didn't sound like a good guy.

Danny took off once more with Robin following him. The ghost teen knew for a fact that going to his family's portal would be easier…but he didn't want to risk running into his parents or sister. He hadn't seen them in a while, and didn't want their greeting to be with a fight. Danny wanted so badly to hug his family once again. Even if they were obnoxious and a handful most of the time, he loved them so much.

He blinked away the oncoming tears and continued on their way to Vlad's mansion.

Vlad had so _nicely_ decided to move to Amity Park and run for mayor a while back, but kept his new mansion up and running, while still keeping his mansion back in Wisconsin. Danny hoped that Vlad was out of town or even taking a trip back to Wisconsin. That way it would be much smoother getting to the portal.

But as fate would have it…Danny didn't usually get what he wanted.

Danny let out a yelp and jumped out of the way, while Robin leaped off of his motorcycle and jumped to the side, away from the oncoming green plasma ray.

The two of them had been coming in close to Vlad's mansion when they were attacked. Danny narrowed his eyes and looked up at their attacker, "Aw, come on! Not you!" Danny growled furiously.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Robin looked up at Danny and then at the strange person standing on top of the mansion.

"The boss assumed that you would stop by at some point, I guess he was right." The ghost was coated in metal armor, having a bulky upper body and quite small legs. His eyes glowed and he had a strange flaming Mohawk on his head. To top it off, he had several large guns reaching out from his body, aiming toward them.

"This is Skulker…" Danny muttered to Robin, then raised his voice to yell toward Skulker, "sometimes I think that Vlad only hires you because he knows that you annoy the hell out of me!"

"It seems as though I have more prey to hunt tonight. I look forward to having both of your pelts up on my wall!"

Danny rolled his eyes, "he talks big, but he's really weak." He informed Robin.

"I heard that, Whelp!" Skulker's guns began to whine with energy, "let's see how well you hold up against my new upgrades!"

The double doors to the mansion swung open. All eyes turned to them.

A man with white hair tied back in a low pony-tail, and wearing a full black suit stepped out of the house. "Skulker, I don't believe I told you to fight them. I specifically said for you to tell me when they arrived and nothing more!"

Skulker's guns retracted back into his body, "Right…sorry, Boss."

"You can _leave_ now, Skulker." Vlad hissed.

Without another word, Skulker vanished.

"I'm assuming that you're Vlad." Robin slowly reached his hand toward his bo-staff. He didn't like the feeling that came with this guy, it reminded him of someone else he hated.

"Ah yes, you've been well informed about me, as I expected. It seems that young Daniel can't keep his mouth shut about me, can he?" Vlad looked up at Danny with a smirk.

"Hey! I didn't-" Danny started to say.

"Why don't the two of you come inside? I've heard some interesting news about you, Daniel." Vlad smiled, "I'm sure your friend, young Mr. Grayson, would like to join us as well."

Danny raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Robin. _Grayson? _He wondered.

Robin's eyes were wide with both shock and anger, "who are you!" He shouted.

Danny jerked back from the sudden change in mood. Vlad seemed to have struck a nerve in Robin. Danny also felt his blood racing. This _news_ that Vlad must have heard was about the murders and kidnappings. The way Vlad had brought it up made Danny think that Vlad was _proud_ of what he had heard. Danny grit his teeth together, "we're kind of in a hurry, Plasmius."

"Yes, yes, of course." Vlad clapped his hands together, "you two are going after Ms. Manson and Mr. Foley, correct? Well, I have some news about them, unfortunately."

Danny's eyes widened and his eyebrows pulled together, "Unfortunately! What happened to them!" Danny snarled.

"Come inside, have a cup of tea and we'll chat." Vlad turned around and walked back into his house.

Danny and Robin both didn't seem to hesitate. The two of them marched in reluctantly, both wanting to know what Vlad had to say, and both wanting to ask some questions.

==0==0==0==

"Now then." Vlad sat down in his large, red fabric chair. In front of him was an oval table with some tea in nice china cups. Danny and Robin sat on the sofa across the table from Vlad.

Neither of the young boys touched their tea of course.

"Care to explain who you are?" Robin launched the first question.

Vlad leaned back in his chair, head high upon his shoulders, "my name is Vlad Masters, or as some know me Vlad Plasmius. I am a half ghost, just like young Daniel there."

Robin was taken aback by the sentence. He didn't really understand the whole thing with Half Ghosts like Phantom, but it was surprising that there were multiple ones.

"Yeah. Me and him don't really get along though!" Danny growled.

"I can see that." Robin muttered. "How do you know my name?" He continued with the next question.

Vlad laughed briefly, "I have my resources."

"Nobody should know my real name! How did you get that information!" Robin looked about ready to jump up from the sofa, his hand still inched toward his weapons.

"Don't worry, boy. I don't plan on sharing my information with everybody. Now enough about me." Vlad leaned forward, his elbows placed on his knees with his chin resting on the backs of his hands, "what is this I've heard about young Daniel."

Danny ground his teeth together, "I don't know…what _have_ you heard?"

"Well, it seems as though you were arrested by the Teen Titans down in Jump City for murder and kidnapping. Is that correct?"

Danny cringed and looked down at the floor.

"Yeah, that's right." Robin answered the question, "he's under my watch right now. If he's proven guilty there's a solid chance that he'll get life in prison or death."

Vlad barked with laughter, "oh, that's rich! Young Daniel arrested for murder." His face dropped to a serious glare, "if only that were true."

Danny and Robin both looked at him with surprise.

"You don't think it was him?" Robin asked.

"Oh, dear boy, I know for a _fact _that it wasn't him."

Robin narrowed his eyes, "you know who it was?"

Vlad glanced at Danny, who stared at him with wide eyes, wondering if Vlad knew the truth behind what had happened. "As a matter of fact, Mr. Grayson, I _do_ know what happened."

Danny stood up suddenly, his eyes flaring with energy, ready to jump at Vlad.

The billionaire didn't budge at all, "however! I'm not going to tell you what I know. Because that would ruin all the fun, now wouldn't it, young badger?" He raised an eyebrow toward Danny.

Danny's hands balled into fists, "you don't know _anything_ about what happened! I'm the reason they're dead! I killed them! Alright!"

"A convincing act, Daniel. But you're not fooling me. You don't have the eyes of a murderer. You still have the eyes of a young boy trying to save the world one pathetic life at a time. You _still_ can't defeat me because you don't have the intent to kill."

Danny jumped up onto the coffee-table between him and Vlad, crouching down to build up speed in his legs and began to charge up ecto-energy in his palm, "you wanna test that theory!" He roared, "I'll take you down before you even have a chance to turn ghost!"

Vlad smirked, "I'm always ready for a good challenge."

Robin stood up and firmly grabbed onto Danny's arm, "we don't have time for this, Phantom!"

Danny looked at Robin with glowing eyes.

"Once we find out what he knows about Sam and Tucker we'll leave! Or did you forget about your friends already!"

"That's right, Daniel. I'm willing to tell you what I know about your friends. Or should I defeat you first?"

Danny hissed with fury before lowering his hands, stepping off the table ungracefully. He didn't sit down though.

Robin didn't sit down either.

"Where are Sam and Tucker?" Danny furiously muttered.

"Well, I hate to be the bringer of bad news. But unfortunately, your friends were captured in the Ghost Zone. My men lost any trace of them for a little while but then found them again in the outskirts of the Ghost Zone. They don't know where their bodies are though. Samantha and Tucker seem to be searching for them as we speak."

"Whoa, whoa." Robin spoke up, "their _bodies_?"

"Yes, unfortunately. What remains of Ms. Manson and Mr. Foley are just their ghosts. Even I am unsure of what happened in there to cause this, but I assure you my information is accurate."

Robin glanced at Danny, "Phantom, I'm sure that-"

A mass of green energy erupted in the room. Robin as thrown backward several feet, but managed to land gracefully on his feet. The table and chairs all were tossed carelessly to the sides, crashing into the walls. Robin looked over to Danny and Vlad.

Danny's body flamed up with green ectoenergy, he held Vlad by the throat and held their faces only a foot apart. "Don't you dare joke about that! Don't you _dare_ say that my friends are dead! Never say that!" Danny rammed Vlad into the nearby wall with all his might, "your stupid followers gave you the wrong information! And when I find _them_ you can bet they won't be happy to see me!"

Vlad chuckled, not seeming to care about the situation he was in, "and if my information turns out to be accurate? What will you do then, Daniel?"

Danny's wide eyes had moisture gather in the corners, "and you're followers were watching them the whole time! Then I blame _you_ for not saving them! I don't care how much you hate my friends, but letting them die is unacceptable! I've saved your ass several times when I could have easily let you die! If what you're telling me is true, then I'll come right back here and take your head! You hear me!"

Neither Danny nor Vlad could say another word before Robin interrupted. He held the tip of his Birdarang up against Danny's throat, "Phantom, let go of him now! You're still in custody, and it's not smart to cause more trouble for yourself!"

"You stay out of this!" Danny barked, "you're just as guilty as him! You're the one who sent them in there! I told you that if anything happened to them I would blame you! My friends are _not_ objects that you can send off whenever you want! They're people! They're normal people who have nothing to do with this situation! I wanted to keep them safe!" A tear made it's way out of his eye and down his cheek.

"You don't even know for sure that what he's saying is true!" Robin pointed out, "let go of him and we'll go in there to find out for ourselves! Alright, Phantom!" Robin continued, "don't let him persuade you! He _wants_ you to get angry! He wants you to turn into him! Trust me, I've dealt with a guy like him. Don't let him have the upper hand! You said yourself that you would never become evil, you promised your friends that!"

Danny turned sharply to Robin, realizing what he had said, "you _did_ see into my past. I don't remember ever telling _you_ about that memory." He turned back to Vlad and released him, "I didn't plan on killing him, idiot."

Vlad rubbed his throat where Danny had held onto him, "even though you say that, Daniel, you are able to see how much more you've started to act like me, haven't you? Before you know it, you'll willingly join me."

"Keep dreaming, Fruit Loop." Danny walked away without glancing at Vlad, and Robin followed him.

==0==0==0==

The two of them easily made their way through Vlad's portal, which was very easy to find. Danny held onto Robin's wrist and pulled him along until they reached a nearby floating piece of land. Danny landed there and let go of Robin.

"This is the Ghost Zone?" He looked at the endless area of green and purple doors, "it's not quite how I imagined. And where are all of the ghosts?" He looked to Danny for answers, but found that Danny wasn't listening.

Danny was on his knees, leaning forward with his hands covering his face.

"Phantom, I'm sure that bastard was just messing with your head. Your friends are probably-"

"No. He's telling the truth. He doesn't lie to me…he's annoying and self-centered, but he won't lie, because he doesn't need to."

"Let's at least find them and see what we should do. You can blame me all you want. They are civilians, and it's my job to protect them, so I'll do whatever I need to."

Danny raised his head, "They're the only friends I have, they have stayed with me for so long. I'm not going to give up on them! I'm not leaving this Ghost Zone until I find them! Alright!"

Robin smirked, "For a 'bad-guy', you're pretty good."

Danny growled, "shut up."

==0==0==0==

Sam sighed heavily, slowing to a stop in the middle of the Ghost Zone, "where am I?" She asked no one in particular.

"Sam Manson, yes?"

Sam turned around to face the one who said her name. "Who's asking?" Her eyes widened a bit, "D-Danny! What are you doing here!"

The white haired teen floated only a few feet away from her, "You are Sam, correct?"

Sam's eyes narrowed, "You...you're not Danny. Why do you look like him?"

"I am Danny Phantom, if that is what you're asking."

"No you're not." Sam backed up a bit, "there's no way Danny talks that formal to me! And there's no way he wouldn't know who I was! Who are you?"

'Danny' lowered his head, and his shoulders began to tremble. He raised his head and let out a barking laugh, "Oh, Sam, it's sad that you don't recognize me! I'm the same Danny you've always known!" He brought his hands to his sides, palms forward and began to charge ectoenergy in each hand, "Why can't you see that?"

"What the hell are you!" Sam backed up even more, she could feel the air around her become colder, "Why do you look like Danny!" She grit her teeth, "I may be a new ghost, but I know how ghost powers work! You can thank the _real_ Danny for teaching us about them!" She raised her arms above her head, a purple glow began to emerge from her body. _Just concentrate, like Danny always said. We've seen him practice his ghost powers and seen him use them multiple times._ _I can do this._

A small sphere of purple energy was created between her hands, she began to pull out, expanding the ball as she pulled until she held a basketball sized sphere of purple ectoenergy in her hands. She grinned upon her success, feeling confident in her abilities, "Let's do this, buddy!"

**A/N: Aw, darn. You **_**really**_** wanted to see a fight between Skulker and Danny / Robin, huh? Haha, well, I was **_**thinking**_** about dragging out this chapter with a random fight like that, but it would really be pointless. We all know that Danny could kick Skulker's ass…so having both Danny and Robin against Skulker would just be sad to see. Let Skulker keep some of his dignity!**

**I'm constantly making references to the relationship between Danny and Vlad and Robin and Slade (although Slade isn't normally mentioned directly). Does anybody else notice that their 'relationships' are pretty much the same? Vlad and Slade want Danny and Robin to turn out just like them and are always manipulating them **_**and**_** using their friends as bait…just a thought. Haha!**

**Anyway, thank you all so much for your reviews on the last chapter! I really didn't expect to see that many! You are all amazing! (Hugs!)**

**Look forward to the next chapter, we get to see Sam fight using ghost powers! Come on, who **_**didn't **_**want to see that happen at some point! (Purple ectoenergy? Yes I did. Because it seems to fit her, does it not? I mean I could give her **_**black**_** ectoenergy...but that would be too epic! Maybe later when she powers up or something! Haha! Did that give anything away...?)**


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